PlanetScale
Supabase
| Feature | PlanetScale | Supabase |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $39/mo | Free / from $25/mo |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.7 / 5 |
| Best For | saas-companies, startups, developer-teams, high-traffic-apps | developers, startups, indie-hackers, full-stack-teams |
| Founded | 2018 | 2020 |
| Database Branching | ✓ | ✗ |
| Schema Changes | ✓ | ✗ |
| Auto Scaling | ✓ | ✗ |
| Read Replicas | ✓ | ✗ |
| Insights Dashboard | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cli Tools | ✓ | ✗ |
| Connection Pooling | ✓ | ✗ |
| Postgres Database | ✗ | ✓ |
| Authentication | ✗ | ✓ |
| Edge Functions | ✗ | ✓ |
| Real Time | ✗ | ✓ |
| Storage | ✗ | ✓ |
| Vector Embeddings | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hosting | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ PlanetScale Pros
- Git-like branching for database schema changes
- Non-blocking schema changes with no downtime
- Built on Vitess (powers YouTube's database)
- Excellent developer experience and CLI
✗ PlanetScale Cons
- Free tier was removed in 2024
- MySQL-compatible only (no PostgreSQL)
- Foreign key constraints not supported in traditional way
✓ Supabase Pros
- Full Postgres with SQL access
- Generous free tier (500MB, 50K monthly active users)
- Auth, storage, and edge functions included
- Open-source and self-hostable
✗ Supabase Cons
- Can be complex for non-developers
- Pauses inactive free projects after 7 days
- Real-time can be expensive at scale
The Verdict
PlanetScale is built for saas companies and startups, with a focus on database-branching and schema-changes. Supabase targets developers and startups and leads with postgres-database and authentication.
On pricing, Supabase is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $25/mo compared to $39/mo for PlanetScale. That $14/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Supabase has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. PlanetScale requires a paid subscription from day one.
Both tools are a solid fit for startups — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.